Ailsa Bay 1.2

Today we will be taking a look at a new bottling from the new(ish) distillery Aisla Bay .

The Ailsa Bay distillery in Girvan on the west coast of South Ayrshire, Scotland went into production back in 2007, and as you know, as whisky matures it is constantly evolving, this has given Master Blender Brian Kinsman the ability to adjust the recipe for what goes into the Ailsa Bay single malt. Brian has been able to put together Ailsa Bay Release 1.2 Sweet Smoke using some of the older maturing stock to develop the flavour profile of the whisky further.

Ailsa Bay Release 1.2 Sweet Smoke is a new whisky from William Grant & Sons, it follows and replaces the inaugural release of Ailsa Bay launched back in early 2016 and for this new 1.2 Sweet Smoke release the folks at William Grant has tweaked the recipe for the peated Lowlander and have launched it with a new look bottle design.

It is bottled at 48.9%.

Nose is gentle honey and vanilla. small hints of peat smoke linger in the background. Soft baking sugar note with a hint of fruit.

Palate is incredibly gentle and silky, toasted cinnamon, soft orange and vanilla pods are all there. Sweet peat kicks pack in at the back end.

Vanilla lingers a while on the finish, fruits make a re-appearance. Smoke of a smoulder coal fire at the end.

An amazing whisky showing off that young and lowland distilleries have a lot to offer, despite what the odd malt snob out there says.